National Farmers Union Hails Cooperatives and the Empowerment They Bring to Rural America

WASHINGTON (October 1, 2015) – National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson today hailed the nation’s many and varied cooperatives, noting that they have brought both political and economic might to family farmers, ranchers and rural America for over a century.

“Since the founding of our organization 113 years ago, Farmers Union members have demonstrated that they not only believe in and belong to cooperatives, the cooperative concept is at the very heart of who we are and how we think as an organization,” said Johnson.

Johnson noted that October is National Cooperative Month, a point on the calendar when more than 29,000 cooperatives from across the nation undertake some form of educational outreach to ensure that people better understand the cooperative business model and how it can improve life for rural Americans. Johnson noted that cooperatives are more important than ever in rural America, given the fact that agriculture is increasingly highly concentrated on both the supply and demand sides of the equation.

“For Farmers Unions across this great nation, cooperatives are not only considered an effective business model, their founding principles go right to the heart of who we are as an organization,” said Johnson. “And honestly, they are one of the best tools we have to cope with and fight the continued economic concentration in agriculture,” he said.